THEY say it's tough at the top, but Geoff Toovey, who has dead-batted speculation about returning to the NRL next season, says that there is plenty for his Bulls players to fight for over the rest of the season.

Toovey has been used to success Down Under, captaining Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to the 1996 NRL Premiership, as well as losing Grand Finals either side of that.

Toovey also coached Manly to an NRL preliminary final in 2012 and the final proper the following year, but the 48-year-old has now been in charge of a Bulls side that have been relegated from the Kingstone Press Championship.

From a crippling 12-point deduction for the club going into administration, to losing some of their best players due to the uncertainty that caused, the Bulls then lost a crop of their leading youngsters who might have been natural replacements for those who departed.

On top of that, they prepared for 2017 without a proper pre-season and, as often happens to sides at or near the bottom, they suffered more than their fair share of injuries.

But the former half-back won't have it that there is nothing for his Bulls players to fight for in the rest of the season.

"I hate losing and I love a challenge," said former Australian international Toovey ahead of the Bulls' match at relegation-threatened Swinton Lions tomorrow.

"We have issues about consistency, but the circumstances this year have been very difficult for all of our players with a 12-point deduction and then relegation.

"They are playing for themselves for the last five rounds.

"The players have contracts to play for, but they are also doing it to the fans, who have been rock solid all year and keep on turning up.

"I promise that if they keep on doing that then the players will continue to give 100 per cent."

The Bulls won 20-16 at Oldham last weekend, scorching into a 20-0 lead, but ending up having to show their resilience due to conceding too many penalties and making too many handling errors.

Head coach Toovey, who says that he knows nothing of rumours that the Bulls are interested in signing Scott Murrell and confirmed that he knew of no more departures from Odsal, said: "We had 13 penalties against us and we made ten handling errors.

"That is a lot of possession to give away cheaply.

"We started off fairly consistently but the second half we fell into too many errors, forward passes and dropped balls.

"We let two kicks off go dead so we just have to be better.

"I don't think we realise how much pressure we put on ourselves at the back end of games – we have to stop doing it.

"I thought that our defence was okay, despite the soft tries, especially the one in the first half, which was disappointing.

"Although the boys really worked hard for each other, and that is all we can do at this stage for the fans and for each other, I thought they dug pretty deep. They were pretty tired out there and did pretty well."

The Bulls won 35-28 at Swinton in February but lost 16-6 at home a month ago in the return, and Toovey said of the Lions: "They have a couple of threats out wide and they are capable of good yardage."

As for his future, Toovey said: "I came over here to experience English rugby culture and they have got that in fistfuls here at Bradford.

"I'm really committed to this year and I was hoping we could get off the bottom where we were situated but that hasn't been the case.

"It has been an enjoyable year and, like the players, I am looking to finish on a high, but I don't know exactly where or what I'll be doing next year."

Bulls half-back Joe Keyes is ruled out of tomorrow's squad with a calf strain.